Tuesday, May 25, 2010

There has been a constant theme emerging during my daily devotional time. The theme consistently being communicated to my spirit has been: Are you living out what you are reading? In other words, it's not enough that I believe anymore. I must be able to take what I believe and translate it to how I live. It's a disservice to God's kingdom if what I receive each day through His infallible word is not converted or be made known through my thoughts, words and actions. Who do I reflect to the people around me?

I remember listening to an older DC Talk song (still a big fan by the way - AWESOME!) called "What If I Stumble?". At the beginning of the song is an audio clip of a quote given by author and pastor Brennan Manning. The quote goes something like this:

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians. Who acknowledge Him with their lips, and walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simple finds unbelievable."

- Brennan Manning

This quote has always challenged me. But it seems the crux of the issue hasn't really been revealed to me until just the past few months or so. Over and over and over in scripture this warning has been given to the church. Whether you read the command of Paul to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:13, about setting an example to believers through every aspect of our lives or you look at countless other references in scripture that urge us as believers to live out what we believe.

So what do we reflect? James 1:22-23 says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what is says. Anyone who listens to the word, but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror". If people were to look at you, who do you reflect to them? Do you reflect someone who is living out loud the belief that is in their heart or do you reflect someone who says one thing but lives in a different way? What do you reflect?

I believe the world is looking for something authentic and for something that is different from what they experience in their everyday secular lives. It's not enough anymore for us to merely listen to the word, we have to live out what we read and believe. So let us shine our light.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Matthew 6:33 - But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 7:7,8 - "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

You know that I mean business when I start off with scripture right? Well I heard a message last Sunday morning that has been very challenging to me ever since. The main part of the message was not about Matthew 6:33 or Matthew 7:7,8. A small portion of the sermon I heard did mention it though. But it has been that little portion of truth that I have been ruminating on ever since.

When it comes to church processes or models of church growth, I am sure we could pull out a plethora of data that shows us the best way to build a church in the era in which we live. There's a number of theories or plans that we could follow that could easily put us on the right path toward mega-church status. God revealed something to me last Sunday morning that makes some of these processes or models seem a little bit trivial. The idea that He revealed to me was simply Matthew 6:33: Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

I believe this revelation is a simple one. One of the main keys to seeing the church become what God intended through His son, to reach the masses God intended and to have the impact God intended, is to simply seek His kingdom first. Don't seek the money it takes to raise your budget, the tools needed to do the job, the advertising it takes to get the word out, etc. Simply seek His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.

I bring up Matthew 7:7,8 because this portion of scripture paints a clear picture of the type of seeking we are supposed to do. Our seeking is supposed to be CONTINUAL. The Greek verb tense used in this portion of scripture, especially in verse 8, implies continued action. So according to scripture, we shouldn't just fall to our knees once to receive a Cadillac Denali (I hope you get the hint of sarcasm - because a lot of the time when we think of this verse we always apply it to monetary or material gain), we should continually fall to our knees, continually asking, seeking and knocking. In fact try this sometimes, don't fall to your knees for a material or monetary boost. Fall to your knees and start to continually seeking the Kingdom of God here on earth, and watch all the things that God can give to you and to the church.

Monday, February 8, 2010

My heart and my prayer for this blog is simple: I want to see God revealed to all the world in such a powerful way that our natural response is WORSHIP!

The definition of reveal is : to make previously unknown or secret information known to others.

Your response automatically could be: "God is not a secret!", "I know who He is!", "Why do you think it needs to be made known because most people already know?".

My contention is that most people are like me. My life is full of so many things: work, family, entertainment, relational obligations, education, etc. I wear many different hats: father, husband, son, brother, friend, pastor, etc. I think you get the idea. But I have find out through my own walk with God, that because my life is so full I tend to lose sight of who He really is. I have jam-packed my life with so many different things that I haven't given myself enough opportunities to experience God for all that He is. With so many things going on and so many things to do it is almost like I have slowly but surely covered my eyes from seeing God for who He really is.

I believe it is time to remove the veil, don't you?

Today marks the start of a new adventure. The journey to experience God and see Him for all that He continues to be. I invite you to go on this journey with me. Share your testimonies. Share your heart. Share your experiences. As often as possible I am going to be sharing different revelations that I have gotten, whether through the written word or through life experiences, in hopes of it helping to remove the veil from your eyes. Feel free to share yours as well. God bless and I look forward to seeing what God is going to do!

2 Corinthians 3:15-17 - Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.